Conventionally, laundry washing machines include a drawer for receiving a detergent agent or other agents for treating the laundry, such as softener or bleach, to be used during the washing cycles.
During the use of the laundry washing machines, residual of such agents for treating the laundry may remain in the drawer and, for this reason, it is advisable to periodically rinse out with water the drawer.
For this purpose, the drawer of conventional laundry washing machines can be fully extracted and removed from its respective seat.
In order to avoid accidental removal of the drawer, GB 758,944 discloses a drawer assembly comprising a spring-biased safety catch arm, pivotally mounted on the front of a supporting structure of the drawer assembly and adapted, when the drawer is pulled out from its housing nearly to the full extent, to engage the slot in the flange under the action of the biasing spring so as to obstruct complete withdrawal of the drawer.
The safety catch is provided with a forwardly extending operating arm which is accessible when the drawer is partially withdrawn so that the safety catch may be held manually in the disengaged position to permit complete withdrawal of the drawer.
This solution is quite complex since it is formed by several components, that requires to be assembled during manufacturing of the washing machine. In particular, the catch is fixed to the support structure by a bolt and nut connection, which is requires a relatively complex assembly in particular since it is positioned in a position not easily reachable.
An alternative solution in which a disengageable retaining device of the drawer is provided at an upper wall element or a cover and/or a side wall of the housing of the drawer is described in EP 2 372 011.